Snapshots of my Nightmare
by thelandofthenutty
Summary: Summary: Photographs of Donna in Gaza appear in a magazine…and Toby gets the happy job of showing the furious Deputy Chief Of Staff. A Josh and Donna Oneshot, set early season 6. Read and review


-1**Summary: Photographs of Donna in Gaza appear in a magazine…and Toby gets the happy job of showing the furious Deputy Chief Of Staff. A Josh and Donna One-shot, set early season 6. Read and review**

**Disclaimer: I don't own West Wing. **

Toby walked up to Josh's office, a magazine clutched in his hand, a little nervous about the ramifications of the conversation that he was about to introduce himself to. He paced in front of the door a couple of times first, and it wasn't until Donna inquired as to what the magazine was that he managed to shut himself inside the office. Toby closed the door with considerable force, causing Josh to jump and look up slightly. He went to throw the magazine down on Josh's desk, but perhaps thought better of it, because the swift motion of his hand was replaced by further pacing.

"This turned up in the Press office today. Annabeth didn't know what to do with it, and she's scared of you, so she came to me…" he explained, dryly. Josh raised his eyebrows.

"She's scared of me?" he asked, imploringly. "Why would she be scared of me?"

"I don't know Josh, she's scared of a lot of things, one of them is you, and with this, frankly, I'm scared of you too." he said, looking up, and handing the magazine to Josh, unblinking.

"If I didn't think you'd see it anyway then I wouldn't have shown it to you, but it was bound to come up sometime, and I thought it was better than you…" Toby trailed off, as he saw Josh reach the spread, his face slackening, his eyes burning, and running over the photographs furiously.

"I just want you to remember that she's safe, not to get too angry, and everything is-" Josh's hand slammed down on his desk in a fist, furious, his eyes, which had been scouting out the name of the photographer having found it at the edge of the page.

There, staring up at him, was every part of his worst nightmare. Donna, looking gorgeous, with another man behind the lens. Donna, driving away from him, in a car, smiling. Donna, upside down, blood trickling down her face and her eyes lifelessly closed. Donna in a hospital bed, pale, tragic.

Donna dying.

Josh stood from behind his desk, swore, and threw the magazine harshly at the door, where it made a loud thud that caused everyone in the bullpen to jump. He paced a few times, back and forward across his office, ignoring Toby, who found this a good si-

"Don't get too ANGRY?" Josh hollered, "He took pictures while she was DYING Toby! You know what I would have done? He's the luckiest man on the planet and he's TAKING PICTURES? Then he flew to Germany and TOOK MORE?" Josh banged his fists on the closed door, furious, breathing heavily, and then stood back, looking at Toby but not really seeing him. Toby eyed his friend carefully.

"Its over now Josh, don't do anything…"

"I'll kill the bastard."

"Anything like _that." _Toby finished, as alarmed as Toby gets. There was another moment in which Josh stared at nothing in particular, seemingly lost in though, his eyes taunted, before, without warning, he opened the door and ran down the hallway, towards the lobby of the White House.

Donna, who had heard indistinctive yelling and a lot of loud thuds, was standing, and looked at Toby, worried, as Josh ran past.

Toby, who was still standing in the doorway, rested his head against the frame, tiredly.

"What is- where's he going?" Donna asked, hurriedly. Toby exhaled, as though finding the Deputy Chief of Staff extremely absurd.

"To kill an Irish man, apparently." Toby replied dryly, throwing a hand in the air, and going to walk off, before pausing, and picking up the magazine at his feet.

"What?" Donna asked, nothing falling into place. Toby looked at her and shook his head, sighing.

"He wont get past the door, he'll come back when he remembers that he's on a different continent." he said gesturing to the doorway, as Josh came walking back in, aggravated, walking very fast, and not stopping moving when he reached Donna and Toby again. He turned to Toby as though Donna wasn't even there.

"Found a problem?" Toby asked, unable to keep the sarcastic mockery from his voice.

"There was an ocean or two, and the fact that I don't know where the asshole is at the moment." Josh said, raising his voice, asshole sounding much higher than it would have under regular circumstances.

Donna was frustrated at the fact that she didn't know what was going on. She was looking to Josh for the answers, since Toby had been awfully cryptic with his chance, however, Josh seemed caught up in his own rant. He was now looking for a phone book, only to realise that it wouldn't have a number for a random photographer in the middle east, no matter how many dysphemistic terms he could create to call the man.

His eyes fell on the other assistants.

"Ginger, can you get me the number of someone? Just Google search dickhead and there he'll be-"

"Josh!" Toby yelled, rolling his eyes. "You're causing a scene, and you're not murdering anyone today. We have a job to do, I only showed you so that you could tell-"

Josh's eyes fell on Donna, and he rushed over to her.

"Why are you standing, sit down." he said, gently, his voice urgent with worry. Toby began to walk to his own office.

"Oh for Christs sake!"

"Are you feeling alright? You have therapy this afternoon don't you? Your legs getting better isn't it? You're taking your-"

"Josh, what's wrong?" Donna asked slowly, afraid for her bosses sanity.

"It's nothing, Í just have to head out this morning, clear my schedule. I have to go…somewhere, to do a…thing…"

Toby, who had almost walked the length of the hall heard this and came back, pointing Josh into his own office.

"You do not! Now get in there!" he said, sternly, and regretting ever taking the magazine off Annabeth in the first place. He closed the door behind Josh, and gave the magazine to Donna.

"There are some pictures in there. I don't particularly want you looking at them, and obviously neither does Josh, but you should know they're there-"

There was a loud crash from Josh's office, and both paused momentarily too look towards his door, before looking back at each other.

" They're taken by someone names Colin Ayres, who I can only assume is the man that Josh refers to as 'Heathcliff ' during select rants." Toby said delicately, groaning inwardly that he was treading so close to the uncharted area that was the unspoken divide between Josh and Donna. None of the staff went there, not ever. CJ would slaughter him later.

Donna interjected.

"I know about these pictures. They were taken the day I spent with him- in Gaza, and as I was getting in the car…" Toby was shaking his head, so she trailed off.

"There are more than that. There's one…one of you after the attack, still in the vehicle, and another…another of you in the hospital in Germany." He told her gently. He heard another loud noise from Josh's office, and cringed.

"Don't look at them." he asked her, finally, with a small nod towards the room containing the rant.

Donna gave the magazine one last glance before looking back at Toby, and nodding. Then she walked tentatively towards Josh's office, and opened the door, standing in the doorway. Josh was sitting on the floor, against his desk, one hand cradling the other, looking at the blackboard which had previously hung on his wall. Donna tilted her head to the side, and gave him a half smile.

"It fell." he said, hollowly, and she closed the door, and sat beside him, looking up at the broken blackboard as well.

Then she looked to him. Josh could see the slight movement out of the corner of his eye.

"I may have punched it." he said, the confession meaning nothing due to Donna's deducing powers.

"I didn't look at them." she told him, in a small voice.

Josh turned to face her now, his hands clenching up again.

"You shouldn't have to. He shouldn't have taken them." Josh replied, in a low voice. Donna shrugged.

"I've never been that great at choosing guys anyway."

"This one hit an all time low."

"You said that about Jack!" Donna retorted, indignantly. Josh closed his eyes and rested his head back against the desk.

"Sorry for getting so crazy. I just… I hate the guy. And I suppose I've been looking for a reason to be _allowed_ to hate him." he confessed, sighing in anguish. Donna gave him a smile.

"The fact that he was better looking than you wasn't enough?" she asked, trying to tease him back to normal. Josh didn't return the grin.

"He came to Germany to take more pictures Donna, forgive me if I don't have a sense of humour with this one." he said, fiercely. Then, after a while, he smiled.

"If he had been on this continent-"

"Oh I believe you would have thrashed him Josh." Donna said, a little sarcastically. Josh grinned, finally.

"He'd better be glad he's not in America, because here we-"

"Practise by fighting with blackboards?" Donna joked, relaxing a bit. Josh chuckled slightly.

"Hey. I also punched a door, and my desk, I'll admit the blackboards a bit pansy arse, but you're not telling me this prick can fight better than a desk?"

"Well the desk would probably be better in bed, I'll admit." she replied, smiling. Josh's eyes met hers, and they looked at each other for a moment, before the grins slid off both their faces.

"I was really scared." Josh told her, his voice hoarse and barely audible. Donna nodded.

"I know. So was I." she whispered. There were a few more moments- moments which had been few and far between since their return to the country- before Donna broke the stare with a smile.

"You think Ginger really googled 'dickhead'?" she asked, standing, and pulling Josh to his feet with her hands in his, straightening up his shirt and tie once he was standing.

"I don't know. But if she did I know what she's found, and I'm telling you, I'll-"

"I know, I know, you'll fly to Britain and show his blackboard who's boss."

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. That's it, by the way, no sequel or anything, just a random little one-shot. I have read two other amazing pieces which are along the same lines as this- with the pictures that Colin took playing a part, and I personally prefer the distraught Josh rather than angry Josh, however, since the other fic did a brilliant distraught Josh I opted to not plagiarise and not an angry one. My first fic in a while that hasn't involved help from Sam, haha. Reviews are the quickest way to really make my day. And I reply to them all, I promise. Toodles! xXx**


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